ThinkGeek iCade iPad gaming cabinet goes from joke to reality, shipping in May

Every year those goofy geeks at ThinkGeek.com create a selection of hilarious products for April Fools day. I've told you about them before, and most are so outrageous that you know right away they're gags. Some, however, are pretty believable and in some cases the geeks have decided to go ahead and bring them to market. Enter, the iCade.

The iCade is a miniature gaming cabinet for your iPad, complete with retro styling that reminds me of the video games we played in the early 80's. Just slip in your iPad (both versions) and connect it via Bluetooth. There's even a coin slot so you can imagine you're at, say, Pin Pan Alley in Gainesville (my hangout when I was in college at UF) and "insert coin."

What makes the iCade even cooler is the recent release of the Atari's Greatest Hits app for iPad, with support for more than 100 classic games. You get the one that started it all, "Pong," for free. After that, other games like Asteroid, Centipede and Missile Command are available for in-app purchase. Three-game packs are $1 and you can buy all 100 games for $14.99.

The iCade is available on a pre-order for $99.99 and will ship on May 20th. Pay attention to the news and the stock market a few days afterward because I predict national productivity will decline by a large margin once these things hit the street.

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